Buffett's firm buys Greensboro newspaper

WARREN Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is adding the Greensboro, North Carolina News & Record to its growing newspaper division.

Berkshire Hathaway said on Thursday that it bought the 122-year-old daily newspaper from Landmark Media Enterprises. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Omaha World-Herald, which oversees Berkshire's newspaper division, reported that the News & Record has daily circulation of 58,000 and Sunday circulation of 86,000.

Terry Kroeger, who leads the newspaper unit, says the Greensboro newspaper will be a great fit with the other small and medium-sized community newspapers Berkshire has purchased.

Newspapers remain a relatively small part of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns an assortment of more than 80 subsidiaries and holds major stakes in companies such as Coca-Cola Co, Wells Fargo and IBM.

Buffett has said he thinks newspapers will continue earning a decent return as long as they remain the primary source of information about their communities.

Last year Berkshire acquired 63 Media General newspapers for $US142 million ($A137 million) and launched its new newspaper unit.

The Media General papers joined the Buffalo News, the Omaha World-Herald and several other newspapers in Nebraska and Iowa that Berkshire already owned although the Buffalo paper operates independently from the newspaper unit.

Buffett has said he expects to continue buying newspapers.

The Greensboro newspaper will be the 28th daily newspaper Berkshire has bought.

Buffett has told Berkshire's newspaper publishers that he won't influence their editorial policies, and he isn't routinely involved in the day-to-day operations of other subsidiaries. But Buffett thinks newspapers should charge for online access to their stories.